Banham's shots don't fall in Gophers' road loss to Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - Sophomore guard Rachel Banham's shots were not dropping, which usually means the Gophers are in trouble.

No. 12 Purdue beat the Gophers 75-67 on Thursday in Mackey Arena before an announced crowd of 8,060 to retain a share of the Big Ten lead.

Banham, who came into the game as the conference's second-leading scorer, averaging 20.8 points, had only two points at halftime. She finished with 17, but she took 23 shots and was 0-for-6 on three-pointers.

Sam Ostarello, a 6-2 senior forward, had 19 points and 14 rebounds for her third double-double in a row for Purdue. Junior guard Moses Courtney had 18 points and six assists.

Purdue (15-2, 4-0) leads the all-time series with the Gophers 40-17 and has won eight of the past nine meetings, including four in a row.

The Boilermakers' three previous conference victories all were in overtime. They needed three extra periods to beat visiting Ohio State 82-75 on Monday. The Gophers also beat the Buckeyes in their last game, 83-74 on Jan. 10 at Williams Arena.

Purdue shot 47.2 percent from the field to the Gophers' 37.5 percent, outscored them 38-30 in the paint and outrebounded them 34-32.

Taylor Manuel of Purdue made back-to-back layups to give Purdue a 51-38 lead 4:49 into the second half. The Gophers closed within seven points at 55-48 on Banham's jumper with 10:11 left.

But the Boilermakers responded with a 6-0 run. Moses made a three-pointer, Ostarello a layup and Manuel a free throw and it was 61-48 Purdue.

The Gophers scored the next five points to cut the lead to eight but never got closer.

Purdue, which tied a season low with 14 turnovers, scored the game's first six points and never trailed. The score was tied once at 20-20, but the Boilermakers scored the next eight points. Purdue led 38-33 at halftime and by as many as 14 points in the second half.